30/04/2012

I located this scene just 500 meters from where I live. I've passed this tree many time without noticing it. But as I'm studying b/w photography I'm training my eyes (and brain) to see in b/w. And as a result of this new ability, this scene presented it self visually.

With my Nikon D300 and a Sigma APO 70-200mm f/2.8 lens I composed this photo in camera so cropping in post processing was not needed. With the Dodge tool I darkened the foliage behind the tree. A 25% vignet was added.

26/04/2012

Today I delivered Nikon D800 to two very exited customers (who purchased the camera through my e-shop - nikonphotoexpert.com). But I'm left with an empty feeling inside, as I'm eagerly awaiting my own Nikon D800 (but customers first). So I grabbed my old friend (Nikon D300) mounted an AF-S Micro 60mm f/2.8G macro lens and went outside to shoot something that could fill the void. I'm pleased with the final outcome but the void has just expanded.

Excuse me my lack of creativity, but I tried to get a sharp bird photo with blur and sharp eyes. As I "only" have a 70-200mm f2.8 lens I needed to get really close to fill the frame. The only bird that sat still long enough was this pigeon.

My son Christian leaving for a 5 days trip to Berlin. It his first trip abroad without his parents. It goes to our hearts to part with him - eventhough it is only for four days. They grow up so damn fast........

While driving home from Comwell Borupgaard, where I met the four E-MBA students that I'll guide with their main thesis report, this fantastic light broke through a rather doll sky and created a special scene. Luckily I had my Nikon D300 with me.

Spring time is also golf time :-) My hcp is 23.5 and too often I'm not even playing up to this handicap. Up to July 7th I have to focus on getting into physical shape to the La Marmotte cycling challenge. But after this day I'm devote more time to improve my handicap - below 20 hcp is my target for 2012.

Spring is still in its early phase and the tree foliage is not visible yet. But it is a beautiful day and I'm enjoying having time to experience spring arriving - and reflect over my own situation as an unemployed senior executive over 50.

21/04/2012

When I was a kid and I was asked to lay the tabel I noticed that the knives had the name "Raadvad" engraved. When we 20 years later moved to Lyngby just north of Copenhagen I located the original "Raadvad Knivfabriker" only 4 kilometers from my home.

As you can see the company "Raadvad Knivfabriker" was established in 1758. A deed of gift from King Frederik V enabled the make over of an old gunpowder mill to one of his loyal valets. This was the starting of a small industrial adventure in Denmark. The company changed name to "Raadvad Knivfabriker" right after World War 1 and the number of products was reduced from over 700 to much less - now only focusing on knives and bread cutters. I think many on my age or older will recognize the following "bread cutter":

In the beginning of the 1970s the production was moved to Jutland. Today the company "Raadvad" is part of Fiskars.

A new office building in the northern part of Copenhagen. I'm getting more into architectural photography and with CS6 it is easy to correct "falling lines" perspective errors. The outer walls are forming a moire pattern when photographed. Imaging how this would look if I used a Nikon D800E instead of my old Nikon D300 :-)

Photo 1 is the result of combining 5 photos into one using CS6. Photo 2 is the first of five photos. The closer you get on the subject the narrower the focal plane is becoming. Therefore it is necessary to take several photos and combine them into one to increase the focal plane and achieve overall sharpness.

17/04/2012

This is a macro composite of five photos. For each photo I moved the focus point one step down in the 51-point AF-grid on my Nikon D300. After importing the photos to LR I went straight to CS6, where the two functions - Auto Align Layers and Auto Blend Layers in the Edit menu, where used to create this photo. Back in LR some PP was done to increase the contrast and dynamic range.

Here is my set-up for a couple of days shooting macro. Nothing fancy - a Nikon D300 with AF-S Micro 60mm f/2.8G (perfect on a DX-camera as the "real" focal length is 90mm). A Nikon MC-36 cable release is used to manage a timed release in Mup mode (Mirror up). The camera is mounted below the tripod leg intersection.

Our home is a mess. The day before we took off for our winter vacation (week 7) a water pipe broke and water was pouring down from our ceiling. After an emergency fix we drove to Austria and two days later we received another call - this time from the security company overlooking our home - that they had responded to an alarm call but found no burglar - only a lot of water inside our home. Another section of the water pipe had broken. From Austria we then tried to manage this rather serious situation with help from our neighbour. This time 50% of the water pipeline was exchanged with new pipes. When we returned home and turned on the water, another part of the remaining old pipe line broke and water came pouring down into our bedroom.

This photo (It's bad - I know) show the entrance to the 50% of our home that where flooded and where most part of ceilings, floors and walls are being dried and repaired. Vivi and I are sleeping in our living room together with all the furniture and stuff we had in all the rooms affected. Believe me - it is a mess.

Piedmont in Italy has some amazing small cities. This street photo is from the city Acqui Terme in Alessandria, which is the closest "big" city to our home in Italy. Believe or not but along this narrow street you will encounter some fantastic restautant's. And the wine is just ......

My daughter has a boyfriend and they have been going steady for two years now. Mads-Emil is a great guy and we like him a lot. He is also not afraid of working hard. Here he is digging up bamboo roots.

11/04/2012

On purpose I didn't mention equipment as it can't be an excuse for making a bad photo. The same goes for the abilities of the photographer - they are constantly being developed as we grow as a photographer - by studying the masters, constantly practise and being able to receive critique without counter-arguments.

How about a neutral color backdrop? I use them (white, black and grey) but I prefere to shoot a portrait with a backdrop that ads to the portrait without stealing the picture - so to say.

Always carry a camera with you. Here we are dining at the IKEA store in Genova, Italy. My kids are sitting opposite me and it's a grey a rainy day, so the light coming from big windows to our right is just soft and perfect. The only thing I needed to add was some reflective light, but as I didn't carry a bouncer with me we improvised and used the back of a tray :-) The photo of Christian is without reflective light and the photo of Camilla is with reflective light.

Christian photo: 1/50 sec at f/7.1 - ISO 400 - 44mm and 0EV

Camilla photo: 1/500 sec at f/1.8 - ISO 400 - 35mm and 0EV

I used a larger aperture (f/1.8) with Camilla to blur the surroundings a lot as she is looking directly into the camera and we need to focus only on her eyes. With Christian I used a medium aperture (f/7.1) achieving a level of blur that still makes the surrounding part of the photo but in a non distracting way. Here Christian is not looking directly into the camera but out of the windows and hence the window need to part of the story.

I'm experimenting with complementary colors. My Nikon D300 WB is set for Kelvin 2700 (blue) and on a hand held SB-700 (TTL-cable SC-29) a full CTO color filter is mounted. The light is aimed at a white wall to the left of Camilla and hence reflected as very soft light on her face. I have only made very light adjustments in LR and find the resulting skin color very authentic.

April 1st my family and I travelled to our home in Italy for the Easter Holidays. While everybody else was shopping I had my eyes scouting for interesting photo subjects. After a while an interesting design downlight structure caught my interest. I found the interaction between the ceiling and the downlight structure fascinating - the geometrical form and bright blue color as a contract to the grey and boring tile ceiling with industry down lights.